AI For Parents with Sarah Dooley

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We explore how to set down part of the mental load by using AI as a quiet co-pilot, not a replacement for connection. With Sarah Dooley of AI Empowered Mom, we share practical workflows, safety guardrails, and small wins that protect time, energy, and joy.

• naming the mental load and why it burns us out
• AI as a tool to protect connection, not replace it
• Sarah’s path from enterprise AI to family-focused tools
• practical meal planning and grocery workflows
• temperature-based coat reminders and kid agency
• avoiding AI slop with human judgment and voice
• choosing tools by values, privacy, and safety
• teaching kids AI literacy and clear boundaries
• myths about “keeping AI out” of the home
• where a maxed-out parent should start
• using AI to interview you and solve tech snags
• resources to follow Sarah and learn more

Show Guest:

Sarah Dooley is the founder of AI-Empowered Mom and host of the AI-Empowered Mom podcast, where she helps parents offload the mental load using responsible AI. After a career in tech consulting and AI strategy roles at companies like Ernst & Young, Visa, and Waste Management, she launched her own platform to support families navigating AI in everyday life. Sarah lives in Austin with her husband and three daughters. You can connect with her at AI-Empowered Mom and on her Instagram AI-Empowered Mom

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Welcome to Couch Time with Cat, your safe place for real conversation and a gentle check-in. KWVH presents Couch Time with Cat.

Speaker 1 0:10

Hi friends, and welcome to Couch Time with Cat, Mental Wellness with a Friendly Voice. I'm Cat, their best bestselling author, TEDx speaker, and endurance athlete. But most of all, I'm a wife, mama, and someone who deeply believes that people are good and healing is possible. Here in the Hill Country of Wimberley, Texas, I've built my life and practice around one purpose to make mental wellness feel accessible, compassionate, and real. This show is for those moments when life feels heavy, when you're craving clarity, or when you just need to hear, you're not alone. Each week we'll explore the terrain of mental wellness through stories, reflections, research, and tools you can bring into everyday life. Think of it as a conversation between friends, rooted in science, guided by heart, and grounded in the belief that healing does not have to feel clinical. It can feel like sitting on a couch with someone who gets it. So whether you're driving, walking, cooking, or simply catching your breath, you're welcome here. This is your space to feel seen, supported, and reminded of your own strength. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in. Imagine it's 5 42 p.m., you're cooking dinner, the kids are having a meltdown, work just sent you a text, and you just remembered that you forgot to RSVP to a school event. Oh man, how many times have we all been there? Now imagine a moment of breath. What if part of that mental juggling act could be supported not by doing more, but by asking for help in a new way? Today's conversation is for every parent who's ever whispered there has to be an easier way. Parenting is beautiful and it is relentless. There are days when it feels like you're carrying a hundred invisible tabs open in your brain. Who packed lunch? Who needs therapy this week? Did I send the email? What about the erasers? Do we need to book summer camp in February? Oh my god, that is so real. It's the mental load, and it often falls hardest on moms. Dads, we love you, but you're not thinking about summer camp. What if we could set some of it down? Today on Couch Time with Cat, we're talking about how AI, artificial intelligence, is becoming a quiet co-pilot in some families' lives. Not to replace connection, but to protect it. Not to parent for us, but to free up the headspace to parent in the way we want to. Our guest today is someone who saw that need and built a movement around it. And I promise you, this isn't just like tech chatter, then your eyes are gonna glaze over. This is about real life and how we can use AI tools to do the things for us so that we can have more time to connect. The mental load is a concept supported by cognitive psychology and neurobiology. It refers to the working memory and executive function we use to plan, organize, and emotionally regulate our families' lives. That sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo, but it's like the continuing ticker in your head. Just think of it like that. It's cognitive labor. So what is that? It's labor inside your brain, completely unseen. And it's been measured to contribute significantly to burnout, especially in women and caregivers. When our working memory is constantly juggling 12 tasks, we don't just get tired, we become more reactive, less patient, more overwhelmed. I mean, I can identify with that. But research also shows that externalizing that load, whether it's through lists, shared calendars, and AI, that can reduce stress and increase clarity. And so today we have, guys, I'm kind of fangirling here. Her name is Sarah Dooley. It's pronounced Dooley. Indeed. She's the founder of AI Empowered Mom and the host of a podcast also named AI Empowered Mom, where she supports parents in using AI to offload the mental weight of daily life. Before creating her own platform, Sarah worked in high-level AI strategy roles at companies like Visa, Ernst Young, and Waste Management. And today we learned that we went to business school together.

Speaker 4:40

What?

Speaker 1 4:42

That's right. But it wasn't until she became a mother of three that she realized that most people in need of AI weren't necessarily in boardrooms, but they were in minivans, kitchens, and dirty suburbans like me. Sarah lives in Austin with her husband and daughters, and her work is grounded in a deep belief that tech should support the heart of a family, not distract from it. Sarah! Thank you so much for having me. Applause, applause. I'm so glad you're here. I'm delighted. Oh my god, thank you so much. Guys, I met Sarah right now, but what I really want to tell you is that I came across Sarah's work. When did you start this?

Speaker 5:23

I started informally in 2023, but I launched my business truly in 2024.

Speaker 1 5:29

Okay, so like your Instagram?

Speaker 5:32

Yes, my Instagram and and my podcast started last year, 2025.

Speaker 1 5:36

So we have um we have mutual friends, and I came across her page through mutual friend from business school, and I was like, okay, cool. And I had not even, I had really no clue what AI was. And so following Sarah on Instagram took me down this like whole other life. Truly, it's been it's been wild. Um, so let's start with this story behind it. Tell me about why you started AI Empowered Mom.

Speaker 6:09

Sure. Well, I I worked for almost two decades in technology. I didn't set out to be a technologist. I'm not trained as a developer or computer scientist, as we talked about. I'm trained as a marketer. But I worked in professional services and consulting, um, and I enjoyed tech projects the very most. I was mostly traveling until I had my three daughters. I had one uh in 2018, and then boom, surprise, twins followed in 2019. So three babies in 18 months, and gosh, everything that I thought I had figured out went right out the window. And that's where I started my journey using technology to support me, not just at work, but at home too. I started automating like crazy, using automated um purchasing for anything that wasn't fresh in the household. You know, I changed my babies with diapers that were delivered on a schedule from Amazon. Our lights came on on a schedule, our lights went down on a schedule, just anything I could do to take stuff off my plate using automation while I was trying to take care of those three little ones plus work. And then at that time I was working in more broad technology, but after Chat GPT became generally available in November of 2022, I moved into a dedicated AI role at Visa at the time. And I was helping employees use generative AI to be more productive. And I realized a couple of things. One, it just fit naturally into my desire to make my life at home just a little bit easier. You know, we were, even by that time, my girls were a little older, but we were still really stretched. Anything could throw our week for a loop. You know, we'd get everything under control, we'd have our routines down, but then somebody would get sick or there'd be a surprise holiday from school, and we every all that careful planning would go out the window. So I started adding generative AI to help me, both with fun activities and connection for the girls, but also really to manage my mental load. And that led me to realize, okay, this is not just a quirk, this is not just a flash in the pan. This is something really meaningful that can help families. At the same time, you know, my task, my mission at work was to get employees to adopt generative AI to be more productive. But people were really resistant, skeptical, suspicious at work. At work, even though it was making their life easier. You know, picture me in a technology organization full of coders. And when this first came out, so many people were saying, this will replace coders. AI can write code, right? Yeah. And other people who are managing projects and they would say, AI, let AI manage your projects. So people were fearful about their job, their future, and people who knew about technology thought, what does this mean, you know, for the future? So especially anecdotally, I'll say the women that I worked with were approaching AI with more skepticism. And I found that I could share the stories of how I was creating toothbrush timing songs for my girls or having record-setting uh yard sales and garage sale when I started using AI to write the little blurbs that I put on Facebook Marketplace. And, you know, we do an annual garage sale in my yard sale in my neighborhood. And when I used AI, I had got just like, you know, doubled what I sold and did it with much less effort. And these little stories helped connect with folks at work and created ways for one, them to try AI in like a less risky environment. It's scary to try something new when the pressure's on and you have a deliverable and you're, you know, you're in a demanding job, but also just to make a little bit more space in their lives. So once I realized it can really help me, it could really help other families, it's easier for people to adopt AI at home, maybe in a less risky environment when they're expected to do it at work so they could try it kind of before they buy it and get to know some of the quirks and where it works and where it doesn't. And then I also started finding that talking to other parents at pickups or at birthday parties, um, a lot of parents, anecdotally again, moms were opting out, and I started getting very deeply troubled because that the third aha moment that I'm like, what is that? I was like, AI is my friend.

Speaker 1 10:15

I want you to be its friend too.

Speaker 10:17

This can make a big difference. And these tools are trained by the people that use them. Uh, those of us that use AI and provide feedback to it, we are participating in its training. And if parents, caregivers, moms don't participate in this, then the tools aren't going to be trained for us and by us. So that lit a fire underneath me.

Speaker 1 10:35

Oh, I hadn't thought about that. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Yeah, if we don't use it, it doesn't adapt to us.

Speaker 10:43

That's right, exactly. And rude. I started hosting little classes in my living room and having moms over. That's really where AI Empowered Mom started. In my living room, bring your phone, bring your iPad, bring your laptop, we'll download an app, we'll uh, you know, go to the website, we'll troubleshoot with things that are weighing you down right now. We would break up in small groups, and that grew into what AI Empowered Mom is today. But but at its core, my mission is to help families adopt AI safely and responsibly, to make their lives easier, but also to use AI as a tool for the greater good rather than, you know, so that we can adopt it responsibly and help AI be a force for good as it is all around us.

Speaker 1 11:25

I imagine a world where you're like a concierge AI service and you come into my house and tell me where I can do this. There you go.

Speaker 11:37

You know, I need a digital twin that I could send into every home to do that to do just that.

Speaker 1 11:44

Like, um, I'm thinking I've seen you post online about like Alexa, if it's over a certain temperature, like rem or under a certain temperature, like remind my kids to get a coat. That's right. I I dream of that. For me, I'm like, there's like 10 steps in between me and that moment. But that sounds like that feels like a good moment.

Speaker 12:03

That's a great it came out this morning. It was 48 degrees at 7 a.m. in our little neighborhood. So our voice assistant made the announcement. It's under 50 degrees. That's what we've agreed on as a family, 50 degrees or lower. It means a winter coat. So they grabbed their coats and out the door they went and and it's helped me in two ways. One, just that fight about the coats is so annoying. You know, I don't want to fight with my children about the coat. I want to connect with them in the morning or at least just have some sense of peace. And then two, it's kind of giving them a little bit more agency. Like they know the reason, they know what to do, they're taking it on, so I'm staying out of it.

Speaker 1 12:37

That sounds so brilliant. That is like I started in this space as a parent coach. And something that they used to teach us to teach was to make a routine and schedule and alarms and oh, two more minutes of TV, and when that alarm goes off, two minutes is done. And oh, it's the alarm's fault. That you know that that resistance doesn't go toward mom or dad, it goes toward the alarm, and that just makes more space for the parent to connect. So I love that you're saying that. I know that it works, and I know that I know by experience that that creates a lot of possible connection time that otherwise you're like, no, coat, code, you know, just wasted time. Um, gosh, I love that it began as a real life solution. Like you just saw a need and went for it. I want to get a little bit practical. Let's do it. So, can you give us a peek into how you use AI or how you teach moms to use AI, let's say for meal planning or scheduling or other mental load things?

Speaker 13:44

Sure. You've hit on two of the big ones right there: meal planning and scheduling. Um when about a year ago, I set out to talk to a hundred parents, and I talked to well over a hundred, to understand what were the biggest pain points in their life and how technology was supporting them. And it just came up over and over again. Getting center on the table is a universal struggle, and even the best meal preppers still find themselves scrambling from time to time. And then the calendar is a center of all busy families' lives. It's not on the calendar, it's not happening, and it's also the cost, it's like a thankless job. It never ends. There are always going to be more things to go on the calendar, and there's no, there's no, like, yay, the calendar looks amazing. It's just something that's recurring. So here's a couple of ways that AI can really help with those two scenarios. With meal planning, AI is great for um what the way that I personally use it is I have used, done this both in ChatGPT or Claude. I use a variety of different AI tools, and I've created a project. And in that project, a project is just a fancy way to add in some context and a little bit of instruction so that AI remembers exactly what you're doing on a certain topic and you can return to it. It's like a folder, exactly, like a smart folder. Okay. So I've created that smart folder, it's like the project, and I have told it all about our family, not just our dietary requirements, but all of the little preferences that come up in a family, you know, who hates what type of no angel hair pasta. No angel hair, who doesn't like slimy texture, you know, we don't like blueberries, that type of thing. I've told it we love seasonal ingredients, we want to refresh with seasonal ingredients, and AI is smart enough to know what's in season if it knows where I live and it knows what the season is. So that's been helpful. I've even taken photos of some of my favorite family recipes and uploaded those into that little folder. And now I use AI every week. On Sunday morning, I set it up to send me my starter grocery list, and then I can take a scan of what's in the fridge in the pantry, and then get that grocery list uh loaded up and get our groceries ordered because I do all my grocery shopping online. And then I make a plan for the meals every week, but of course the best laid plans go, you know, exactly where. And you know, maybe I'll hit four out of the five planned meals. And when a meeting runs late, that sounds like a win to me.

Speaker 1 15:58

Four out of five. Wow.

Speaker 15:59

Well, when a meal when a meeting runs late or I forgot to defrost something, then I can fall back on AI to help me in a scramble. So taking a picture of what I have in my refrigerator and uploading that to a tool like ChatGPT or Google Gemini and saying, what can I make with these ingredients on hand, plus regular pantry staples, or you can add a picture of your pantry too if you want. My constraints are I need to do this in 30 minutes, you know, whatever your preferences are. And I find myself doing that pretty often, although now AI has sort of trained my human brain where I don't even need to ask AI, what can I do in 30 minutes? Because I had done that so many times that now I'm getting better at doing a scan and thinking, okay, I see I can make a quick veggie case deal, or you know, I can pull this together. It's a breakfast for dinner night. And sometimes just the relieving the fatigue of making that decision is so helpful. So those are a few ways for meal planning.

Speaker 1 16:52

I wanna ask so the more we use AI, the less we use those particular functions in our brain. Um what is your commentary on it's a discussion, right? I'm not this is not better or worse or good or bad. It's it's an evolving thing. So the other day, somebody replied to me in an email, in a business email, with a pr a pretty serious topic, and I was I thought, you didn't write this. Like you did not write this. This is not a normal flow of language. And I had to really stop and think, do I care? Do I, is that not as professional? Is it it was a really interesting moment because I was in a business exchange with somebody and I'm not in it for authentic email writing? It's not my goal for this business relationship. So I thought, are we relying on it too much? Are like, you know, what you don't use, you lose, right? Our synapses. And so are we just pruning away all these synapses, but on the other side, our other ones is it making space for more or different? What do you think?

Speaker 18:20

Well, the AI term for what you received is slop, AI work slop. So Oh no, that doesn't sound good. That's the term for AI junk that someone that a human creates but then doesn't review or stay in the loop or edit or massage to make it feel right for the audience. And we are in a time, I hope right now we're in peak AI slop period because the tools are getting sounds terrible. I mean, but that's how it feels to review to receive something that's just straight out of AI. That's right. They just slopped it off. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 18:56

Yeah. It feels like a messy cafeteria scoop, like boom.

Speaker 18:58

So I think this is a particular moment in time where the tools are getting smarter, the writing is getting better, and as humans, we're getting a little bit better at figuring out uh working on our own AI literacy and figuring out where we need to step in. So I hope these two trends are gonna converge soon and we will be receiving less work slop or AI slop. But I also think that um if those two things don't happen, the people who use their critical thinking and use their humanity, let AI take maybe lower level tasks, but um use their humanity to do the most important tasks, those folks are gonna rise to the top. So hopefully the work slop goes, starts decreasing, but also um people will learn through the responses that they receive that just sending that AI slop is they won't be rewarded by that. So what did you do? How did you respond to it?

Speaker 1 19:49

I responded with my human brain and I I just made a mental note, speaking of mental load, and I resp I I decided in that moment that I wasn't gonna be the type of person who used chat GPT, that's my preferred one, to um just do a cut and paste situation. I thought that's not how I want to be or come across. Right. So I just responded with my own brain. And before you and I started recording, sorry, I'm a writer and um I told you that my big flex is that I've written two books without AI. Yay. Feels like a big feat now. Yes. I sat down for years and wrote from my brain words. So writing an email does not feel intimidating to me, but I understand how maybe it feels intimidating to somebody. But a few minutes ago you said something like, use your humanity for higher level tasks, or rather, AI for lower level tasks, and I pointed at you. It's like, listener, I'm like, yes, yes, that feels right. Like, how can we use AI for the things that we can autopilot? You know, the coked moment or the how to make cheese enchiladas moment, or whatever. So we can have more space to use our brain even more creatively or for deeper thinking. Do you ever preach that, not preach, but kind of share or encourage people to do that balance?

Speaker 21:29

Yes, and I have really re evolved in my thinking around this. When I first started using Microsoft Copilot at work, which was the tool that I use, generative AI tool that I used most often when I was working in a corporate role, I would say things like, I'm never starting with a blank page again. But then after about six months of starting first with AI to do writing, I realized, no, this is my quality is going down. So I've changed my tune for things that for the work that matters, you know, work that is requires critical thinking, I start with the Blank page and then use AI to support me. For routine work that I'm doing over and over, like a great example at work is use writing a job description. You know, the jobs that I was hiring for were often we you we could use them over and over. The jobs weren't changing that much. So there was no need for me to start from a blank page to write a job description, but now I'm writing a book, and I absolutely start with a blank page every day, just like you. I'm writing this book from my brain where the humanity really matters. What is your book about? The book is called AI Empowered Family. So it's just a little bit broader than AI Empowered Mom. You know, love to the moms always. But I it will be published by Wiley early next year, and it is a guide, a little bit AI 101 for busy families, a little bit about defining the family that you want to be, and then a lot about how to use AI to become that family.

Speaker 1 22:51

Are you afraid that it will be outdated by the time you print it? Yes, I'm writing just as fast as my little brain can.

Speaker 22:58

I am afraid.

Speaker 1 23:00

But not to rain on your parade. You would know that better than anybody, of course, that AI is so evolving.

Speaker 23:07

You know, I know. And I do have concerns about this. However, then I tell myself that artificial intelligence started, depending on where the term was coined in the 50s, this movement has been a long time coming. And robotics are one of the things that people are really predicting are going to be in homes, but we're still 10 years out from that. So I think I'm in a period right now where families will be uh needing foundational help to be prepared to let AI empower their family for some time.

Speaker 1 23:38

I think that the way you teach AI and about AI, I mean, I know your book's gonna be a hit. And also you speak a lot. I feel like the AI is changing, but the values around your AI work are not changing. So even if Claude changes, I don't even know what that is. I just know what that is because you say it on your Instagram. So this is it's so bizarre. This is the first time I've interviewed somebody where I'm like, I know something about you, which is only from Instagram. That is like such a bizarre experience. But I know that you uh exported your projects from ChatGPT to Claude. So I feel hip about that.

Speaker 24:26

You are hip. And Claude is just What is Claude? Claude is the generative AI tool from the company Anthropic. Anthropic was founded by engineers and um AI thinkers who left some of the other major AI companies to start one that was focused on ethical and responsible AI. And the reason why I made this change is because I'm looking for my I'm using AI more and more with my kids side by side with me. We're talking about AI, talking to them about what AI means and how it's different from humans and where it's right and wrong. And I want to use tools that are aligned with the values that our family believes in. And Anthropics, as a company, they publish their constitution. Um, how they they even call the work that they do constitutional AI. They're very transparent, they're working so hard on responsibility, it's not perfect, but they're doing their best. So I moved over to Claude because it it felt more values-aligned for me. And I'm not saying I'm gonna be there forever. Claude and I are not getting married, but for this year, I feel good about moving over to a tool. I still use ChatGPT, but for my deep work, my deep recurring work, the projects and the writing that I do with AI, I move that all over to Claude. And when I use AI with my kids right next to me, I'm using Claude because it feels like the right fit for our family.

Speaker 1 25:44

Wow, I didn't even know you could go AI shopping.

Speaker 25:48

Yeah, you sure can. And I hope you do. You should try out a couple of different tools and see which one suits you best, whether it's Chat GPT or Gemini from Google or Claude from Anthropic or Microsoft's Copilot, trying them out. They all have different vibes, they have a different way of responding, they have different things they do well, strengths and weaknesses, and finding the one that's right for you is sort of like, you know, find find where you like to get your email. Like, are you a Gmail person? Are you an Outlook person? Or even where you like to get your content? You know, are you a TikTok person? Are you a Instagram person? Are you a hard copy book person? We try these things and find the one that works for us. So you can do just the same thing with generative AI.

Speaker 1 26:28

Is there is there somewhere where a mama could go to see like these are my AI options? Well, you could go to my Instagram to an AI Empowered Mom.

Speaker 26:40

And I'm always talking about the different tools that I use. I'm paid by none of these tools.

Speaker 1 26:45

I pay for these tools. What's your Instagram? We'll say it at the end, but also let's share it here.

Speaker 26:49

My Instagram is AI Empowered Mom, and I write a weekly newsletter too, where about once a month I spotlight a new AI tool and uh encourage parents to try different tools and find the one that works best for them.

Speaker 1 27:01

I'm gonna try it out. I've really only done chat GPT. And for a long time I I thought it was chat GBT as in boy. So um that was embarrassing. You're not the only one. But nobody says chat GPT. Nobody enunciates the P.

Speaker 27:15

When you I do a lot of recording, and whenever I record and then look at my trans transcription, um AI thinks I say Chachi Bt. Um I'm constantly doing a control F and then replacing Chachi Bt with Cha GPT.

Speaker 1 27:32

It just kind of rolls. Yes. Okay. So we can go to your Instagram and browse.

Speaker 27:38

You can go AI models. I have a pin at the top of my, I need to confirm and make sure it's still there, but I pinned a screenshot of my phone with the apps that I use most commonly. And I've updated that twice now because it's changing. It's changed, it's my tool set is changing every year. Different tools are getting better. Some are getting worse, some I'm learning more about, and I think it's not not a fit for my family. So do you subscribe to each tool? Yes. I am a paid subscriber for at least three tools. I use others for free. Um the way that I select my tools is first I look at the data and privacy policies. Do I want to do that? No, I don't. But do I think it's the right thing to do for my family? Yes, I do. And if the data and privacy policies work for me, and the pro tip is you can load if you can find their data or privacy policy, you can put that into an AI tool like ChatGPT and then ask questions about it. Um, should I put my children's image in this? What do they do with the data? Do I own my data? Can I delete my data from this? Asking questions like that. So that's I try to always check the data and privacy policy that informs the tools that I pay for. And then if they feel like the right fit for me and I can respect their data and privacy policy, then I'll pay for the tool. And if not, then I might audit a free account, but um not give them, not vote for them with my dollars.

Speaker 1 29:00

What is the conversation like between you? How old are your kiddos?

Speaker 29:04

My twins are six now, today, six and a half. Today? Oh, six and a half. I love that. Half birthday. Very important when you're six. And the big girl is eight.

unknown 29:13

Okay.

Speaker 1 29:14

And what is the conversation like between you? How are you sharing about AI? AI is what?

Speaker 29:20

We talk about AI all the time as a computer that can think or a thinking machine. We talk about what AI is not, which is not a human, it's not our friend, it doesn't know us. And there are always fun new ways that we can talk about that. Like I heard one of the twins asking Alexa, are you right-handed or left-handed? And so then we could talk about okay, a computer system, a thinking computer, a thinking machine doesn't have hands. There's nobody out there to write with a hand. So it's just one example of how we're always talking about AI. And I use AI with them. You know, they they want different coloring sheets, they want custom Christmas carols or softball songs that are just about them with their name, with their team name, that's you know, whatever they're working on. So we do a lot of fun stuff like that. But I also showed it. It sounds like a craft tool. Crafting, family joy, and celebration, and um then a lot of lightening the mental load for me. But I I the latest research is showing reports. There's Aura um published a great report at the end of 2025 showing that of children ages five to 17, um, more than 70% of them are using generative AI tools. You know, AI is all around us in our algorithms and the apps that we use, but children are using AI tools. And uh 42% of kids age 15 to 17 were already using AI for companionship, and it's deeply troubling to me. So that really amped up the conversations that I have with my kids about AI.

Speaker 1 30:53

In my line of work, I talk a lot about AI and relationships, and it is just uncharted territory in terms of Esther Pearl had a podcast I think published this week with the New York Times, Can You Fall in Love with a Machine? What do you think about uh uh children and creating these relationships with AI?

Speaker 31:23

I don't think it's safe. Common sense media is a resource that I really respect and value. I rely on them heavily for uh both media that I expose my kids to, but also technology. And uh they did a ton of research and have said AI companions are not safe for anyone under the age of 18 because their brains are still developing, and you know much more about this than I do. Um, but I find it troubling and worrisome. That's why I'm working to talk to my children about how AI is not our friend, um, how it's no substitute for human connection, and that's what I talk to others in the AI-empowered mom community about.

Speaker 1 31:57

Man, that is such an uphill climb because kids are it's a barrage of technology, you know, at every turn.

Speaker 32:05

Yes. Yes, it is. And I reserve the right to refine this as if the technology becomes safer in the future, but for where we are today, I don't think it's safe um for kids to use AI for companionship or friendship.

Speaker 1 32:17

I love the way you say I reserve the right to refine this. I mean that's such great language. Good job. I mean, great job. I feel like I'm gonna say that to my kids. There are a lot of misconceptions about AI. Sometimes people think maybe um, like my husband is 50, my I don't know. He's 11 years older than me. Somebody else can do the math. But we are reluctant to bring AI into the home, into the home, right? I use it on his on my computer, he uses it on his computer. But we haven't really welcomed it in because it feels like somebody's in there watching. Sure. And um what are some of the myths you run into?

Speaker 33:04

Well, you know, one myth is that you can keep AI out of your home because if you have a ring door belt, if you use content streaming platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime, um, if you use YouTube, if your books are being recommended to you by Kindle, um even in if your email is getting summarized by call is coming from inside the house.

Speaker 1 33:33

Right, exactly.

Speaker 33:34

These AI tools are all around us, and it's very hard in the connected world that we live in today to keep AI out of it. Now, generative AI, we can. And every family has to decide for themselves if they feel safe sharing their voices, for example, their children's voices, the conversations that happen in their home, if they if those things are right for them. But um, I would say one myth is that's that's great.

Speaker 1 34:02

It's already there. Thank you, Sarah.

Speaker 34:04

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Speaker 1 34:07

No, I mean you're right.

Speaker 34:08

I l I love that.

Speaker 1 34:09

It's already there.

Speaker 34:11

There was an excellent article in the New York Times last year about a gentleman who set out to have a couple of AI-free days, and it required a lot of planning. Even one of the things that I'll never forget is that he collected rainwater to drink during the his AI-free days because uh our the our utilities use so much AI to monitor and keep water safe. So he said, Oh, I can't take water from the tap because AI is used in the filtration and the management of the utilities. So, in order to prepare for two days of AI free life, he captured the rainwater and drank the rainwater.

Speaker 1 34:48

Oh, he went all the way back.

Speaker 34:51

He had his paper map. It's a great, it's a great article. Um, but it really drives home the the fact that AI truly is all around us.

Speaker 1 34:58

It's everywhere. Have you forgotten how to make decisions while driving?

Speaker 35:03

Yes, of course. When I moved to Los Angeles, I we lived in a more walkable neighborhood, and I really learned the neighborhood because I set out walking so many places. But when we came back to Austin, uh it felt like my cr lost my critical thinking. I just need GPS. And I imagine if you ask me how I got here today from Austin to the beautiful Wimberly Valley, I have no idea. I couldn't tell you how I got here.

Speaker 1 35:27

Like Google Maps exactly. Sometimes I think I in college, um, I used to have a a book, a map book. And my boyfriend at the time, he would like buy me one every year. Romantic. Valentine's Day. He was like, here you go, because he was from Houston. And you needed a map in Houston, and I'm from a small town. So he was like, This is how I keep her safe by giving her a paper map. And I would pull over and make sure I was going the right way in Houston. Isn't that crazy? I love it. Do you think that served you? Did it help shape your brain in some way? I think it helped me have confidence in myself. Yes. Kind of like a Girl Scout situation where it's like, I'm in the wilderness, I can figure it out, I can do with what I have. Like a little bit of self-determination and self-efficacy. And so I do feel like if I needed to read a paper map today, I could and I could get there. But I don't think it would be my favorite thing to do. It's like going back to churning butter when you can just buy a bucket of butter. Bucket. A bucket. Wow, that's a whole, that's a lot of butter. So we know that there's a lot of pressure on moms to do all the things. And I saw I know some listeners might be thinking, ugh, one more thing, one more thing to do, like one more thing on my list. What would you say to the mom who's maxed out?

Speaker 37:05

I would say two things. One, that AI truly can help take tasks off your plate. Don't start with the things that you love. Start with the thing that you're dreading, the thing that you don't want to do, that thing that always is on lurking on your to-do list, start sh start with AI there. And two, I would say, unfortunately, as parents, I think today we have a mandate to increase our own AI literacy because our kids are using AI so much. And truly, the only way that we can really make an impact on our kids around responsible AI use is by modeling that behavior ourselves. And I hate it when that's the answer. You know, when the answer is that I have to do the right thing, I want to buy something. I I want to, you know, let them watch something. But the answer for broader technology and for AI, responsible AI use, if you're working to impart it to children, is that we have to do that work and do it ourselves. So why not try AI on things you don't want to do, the things that weigh you down, the things that drain you like meal planning or managing your calendar or putting the school district calendar, you know, ASD calendar, loaded all of those events in your calendar or whatever the thing that bothers you, try AI on that. Increase your AI literacy while you're at it so that you're able to model that responsible AI behavior and have these AI conversations with your kids.

Speaker 1 38:21

Sometimes when I see an 80-year-old, I think, I'm so sorry. You have had to go through, I think a combo. I think you're so cool because you have had to, and then also I'm so sorry that you have had to. It's a combo. The way technology has grown by leaps and bounds for people who are in their 70s or 80s or 90s, and we're living longer and longer. So it's like we're constantly expected to learn another iteration of how the world functions. I was at a doctor's appointment the other day, and an older gentleman was sitting next to me and they gave him a tablet to check in. And I could see he was thinking, dang it. Yeah, can't I just tell a receptionist hello? And and I understood his frustration, like, oh, I have to learn something else. And so it feels I feel deep respect for them that they've had to grow and learn. And I also just wish we could like take it easy on them. Yes. But I feel like I'm finally at that place where I have all the technology I need. And now I have these children who are using technology. And I'm having to learn, like I just learned that you can listen to TikTok videos on Spotify. It's important to know from a parental control perspective. That was a real bummer, and I just learned that yesterday. And I thought, here, I'm getting my kids these MP3 players, they don't have access to browser. But TikTok is on a child's account on Spotify. And I thought, oh man. And that was the first time I thought, I'm gonna have to get with it. Like I'm going to have to spruce up my knowledge because these children are gonna just pass me by and I'm gonna think, oh, I've got these parental controls under control, and I don't.

Speaker 40:26

You know, I don't want to get too crazy, but generative AI is so helpful as your personal IT department to help you troubleshoot and learn new technology that I'm gonna make a bold statement and say, if you can effectively learn how to use generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to help you as your tech support, it might be the last technology that you need to learn how to use because we can work through generative AI to help us unlock other technologies. And that's what I say to folks that I like you. I deeply respect our wonderful elders who maybe don't want to learn one more thing, but this is one thing that can help them so much. And it thrills me to know when I hear my parents using ChatGPT as their tech support when their oven got turned on, self-cleaning, and they can't unlock it, and now they are able to troubleshoot it using ChatGPT, or they have a new app for their air conditioner and they have to figure that out and they do that with ChatGPT. So I would say that generative AI can be a great unlock when it comes to tech support in your future. You just have to learn generative AI first.

Speaker 1 41:33

I love that perspective. It it can be your support, it can be your companion as we go through these new iterations of technology. It'll grow and learn along with us. Right. Like our buddy. Exactly. I like that. I like that. That makes it feel to me, that makes it feel um I want to walk toward that instead of oh, that's another hill I have to climb. It's like, oh, let me go befriend this situation and let me try to incorporate it into my life so that it can support me along the way.

Speaker 42:06

Yes. And if you want AI to support you, one very effective place to start is to ask it to interview you. That way you don't have to think of all the things, you don't have to engineer a prompt, you don't have to come up with the exact thing that you're trying to do. But if you're having trouble with the technology, ask AI to interview you about the problem that you're having and then work together to find a solution. Asking generative AI to interview you is a great, great hack.

Speaker 1 42:31

Oh my God, Sarah, you're the best. I am just, I'm so grateful for you. I have incorporated AI into my life because I follow your Instagram and I do what you tell me to do. So, listener, Sarah has unknowingly helped me plan for vacations, plan itineraries, plan birthday parties. It has helped me build websites. I mean, I use it to troubleshoot so much stuff that I would have otherwise called customer service for. And by the way, customer service doesn't exist anymore. So I cannot call 1-800, you know, 555-555 to call Squarespace anymore. Used to be able to get a customer representative on Squarespace. That's a website platform that doesn't exist anymore. You're chatting with a chat bot. So I thought, well, here we go. So um follow, follow along with Sarah, and I'm gonna ask her here shortly to share where you guys can find her. But from a mom's perspective, you have helped me so much. And so I appreciate the work that you do and the effort that you put into it. And I even know that you say good morning to everybody except for XYZ. I love those things in the morning. I think it's so darling. So just thank you so much.

Speaker 43:51

Oh, my heart is so full. Thank you. You do a great job. So thank you for helping me fulfill that.

Speaker 1 44:02

Sarah, if listeners want to connect with you, where can they find you?

Speaker 44:05

You can find me on at my website, which is aiempoweredmom.com. From the website, you can get access to my weekly newsletter where I send a few fun tips every Sunday night to help you get ready for the week. You can also find my podcast, the AI Empowered Mom Podcast, there, or on any podcast platform or on YouTube. And I am having some fun over on social, on Instagram at AI EmpoweredMom.

Speaker 1 44:31

That is so great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you again for being here. Listeners, I hope you enjoyed that episode. And um man, I hope you take some of Sarah's advice and that you help it or that it helps you lighten your mental load and helps you approach life in a more fun, sustainable way where you can give your your fun brain energy to something that you really love and you can hand AI some tools that maybe are not or some tasks that maybe are not your favorite. That's right. All right, until next time, take good care of yourselves. Thank you for spending this time with me. If something from today's conversation resonated, or if you're in a season where support would help, visit me at gattyahollum.com. That's C-A-T-I-A-H-O-L-M.com. You can also leave an anonymous question for the show by calling or texting 956-249-7930. I'd love to hear what's on your heart. If Couch Time with Cat has been meaningful to you, it would mean so much if you'd subscribe, rate, and leave a review. It helps others find us and it grows this community of care. And if you know someone who needs a little light right now, send them this episode. Remind them they're not alone. Until next time, be gentle with yourself. Keep showing up and know I'm right here with you.